Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela, former minister of finance, for failing to “prevent systematic and widespread corruption” in the previous administration.
The ICC is empowered by an international treaty to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
In a petition sent to Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor of the ICC, Falana described as “criminal” the transfer of recovered $322 million loot of Sani Abacha, former Nigerian dictator, to Sambo Dasuki, the former national security adviser. He said Okonjo-Iweala should be prosecuted over this since such happened under her watch.
“The failure of a former Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to prevent widespread and systematic corruption including the re-looting of the Abacha loot amounts to complicity under the Rome Statute, and therefore fits the legal requirements of a crime against humanity,” he wrote.
The lawyer also sought the prosecution of Dasuki, saying his trial by the current administration should not stop the international body from probing him.
Details in THE CABLE
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